Incredible Things
by thatXoneXchick9999
Summary: When his little brother reveals himself to be an airbender, seven year old Bumi feels left out. Can his uncle Sokka pull him out of his funk?


This was an idea that started floating around in my head when I started writing _Almost_. I thought it would be cute, and I just had to write it. You _know _this talk had to happen at some point.

DISCLAIMER: I own neither Avatar: the Last Airbender, nor The Legend of Korra. Sadly.

Seven year old Bumi was playing with his father and his older sister Kya. A few weeks ago, their friend Honora had showed them a game called Hide and Explode when they'd gone to her family's house on Ember Island, and now his father was trying to make up a version that didn't require a firebender. It didn't really matter much right now since their dad technically _was _a firebender, but he wanted them to be able to play the game when he was busy. They had almost worked out the finishing touches of the game when they heard his mother shouting.

"Aang! AANG!"

Bumi looked up to see his mom run into the courtyard, her hair a wild mess around her head and a huge grin lighting up her face.

"What's going on, Katara?" Dad asked, using airbending to lift him to his feet.

"Tenzin bent!" she exclaimed, her smile somehow widening. Bumi felt his heart sink.

"That's great!" Dad said, "What kind of bender is he?"

"Have you _seen _my hair?"

Bumi watched his father's face as he made the connection. He saw the hope in his face.

"No..." he said softly, hardly daring to believe it.

"He sneezed and flew _ten feet in the air!_" Mom announced proudly.

"MY SON IS AN AIRBENDER!" Dad bellowed, making them all jump.

"I want to see!" Kya yelled

Mom laughed as Dad ran into the temple so fast that they all knew he had to have been using airbending. Kya was right behind him. Bumi didn't move. Smiling slightly at him, his mom walked over to him and offered her hand. He took it and let her help him up.

"You know why your father is so excited, right?" she asked him gently.

"Yes." Bumi said quietly.

His parents and their friends had been telling him stories about the Hundred Year War since he could remember. One thing the Fire Nation had done was wipe out his father's people, the Air Nomads, over a hundred years ago, because they were looking for him. When his dad was released from the iceberg, he found out he was the only one left. He had Mom and him and Kya and Tenzin, but when it came to Air Nomad stuff, he was completely alone. Tenzin, that weirdly serious little four year old, had given his father hope.

"Let's go check on everybody." Mom said, giving his hand a gentle tug. He let himself be led into the air temple and to Tenzin's room. They looked in, and Mom laughed when they saw Dad doing his old trick where he would use airbending to make a ball spin really fast between his hands. What made it different was that Tenzin was doing the same thing. He felt Mom let go of his hand to clap hers together in delight.

For a time, Bumi watched his family laugh and exclaim over Tenzin's new ability. He agreed that some of the small tricks Dad was teaching his little brother were pretty cool, and he truly was happy for little Tenzin, but the longer he watched, the more he wanted to be alone. Turning away from his family, he walked away.

Two weeks later, Bumi found himself in his usual place, the bison stable. Mom was too busy for him, and so was Dad now. She was practicing waterbending with Kya, and he was teaching Tenzin airbending. For weeks, that had been the norm. His parents, as soon as they were done with whatever work they were doing across the bay in Republic City, would return home, have a quick family dinner, and then all but carry off his brother and sister. He wouldn't see them until it was almost bedtime. Even the Air Nomad acolytes his father had taken in were ignoring him. Too busy oohing and aahing over Tenzin.

"At least you aren't ignoring me, huh, buddy?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at Appa, his father's ancient sky bison.

The beast groaned and ran his massive tongue over Bumi, his saliva sticking to the boy's already unruly hair.

"Thanks." Bumi said, wiping the bison spit off his face and laughing slightly. It was then he remembered why he was sitting in the barn when two weeks ago, he could have been playing non-bender-friendly Hide and Explode with his family. He was happy for Tenzin, and he was happy for Dad, but that didn't stop him from missing them. With a sigh, he stood up and climbed on top of Appa's head. He curled up and fell asleep.

The city council meeting had just ended. Sokka was gathering his paperwork when he heard his sister calling his name. He looked up to see her standing in the doorway.

"Hey, Katara." he called, "How are things with Tenzin going?"

"Fine." she called back. She started walking towards him, and Sokka's eyes narrowed when he saw the expression on her face.

"What's wrong?" he asked when she was a few feet away.

"What?!" she asked with a nervous laugh, "Nothing!"

"That's your 'I'm about to cry' face."

"Since when are you so perceptive?!" she snapped before her expression went back to her sad face.

Sokka shrugged, unperturbed by his little sister's outburst.

"I've been helping to preside over trials for over twenty years. Even I eventually figured out what some facial expressions mean." He packed his papers away. "Now, what's going on? Is it Aang? The war's been over for nearly twenty-five years. I'm sure that if he hurt you, I could get away with killing him at this point." he said, placing a hand over his "Space Sword."

"It's not Aang, alright?"

"Is it Tenzin? Some problem with his airbending? You know, he probably-"

"It's Bumi, alright?!" Katara exclaimed, losing her patience.

"Bumi?" Sokka asked, puzzled, "What's wrong? Is he sick?"

"No! At least not physically." she amended.

Sokka smiled slightly and placed a large hand on her shoulder.

"Katara, when you guys named the kid Bumi, you practically invited the crazy in."

"The problem is that he's _not _acting crazy!"

Sokka raised an eyebrow at her. Well, that _was _weird.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"For over a month, he's been acting like... like I don't know what!" Katara exclaimed, "He hasn't tried pulling any crazy, dangerous stunts. He hasn't pulled any practical jokes. He hasn't even cracked a smile, a _real _smile, in over a month! All he does is sit in the barn and feed Appa!"

"Do you have any idea what brought this on?" Sokka asked, concerned for his nephew.

"He's been like this since we found out Tenzin is an airbender. I've tried talking to him, _twice._ I tried to explain to him that Aang needs to train Tenzin, and I need to train Kya, and the fact that he's not a bender doesn't mean we love him any less, and he says he understands, but he still keeps moping around in the barn, and-"

Sokka placed a finger over her lips.

"Calm down, Katara. You don't need to get all worked up."

"Don't need to get all worked up?!" Katara demanded, and Sokka winced. There were some things he would never learn.

"I want my boy back!" she wailed, her 'I'm about to cry' face returning. Sokka pulled her into a hug, and she lost it, sobbing into his shoulder. For a time, he let her cry, and when she calmed down, he held her out at arm's length.

"Has Aang tried talking to him?"

"He's tried. I've tried. I even had _Kya_ try!"

"You want me to take a turn?" he suggested.

"Sokka, he needs _compassion!_"

"Do I _look _like Toph?" Sokka asked, irritated.

"No." she sniffed.

"Then shut up, and let me have a crack at my nephew."

Bumi sat in his usual place, feeding Appa as usual.

"And where is my nutjob of a nephew?" a familiar voice called from the entrance to the barn. For the first time in weeks, Bumi's face broke into a grin.

"Over here, Uncle Sokka!" he called. He _loved _Uncle Sokka. He was hilarious.

"Hey, kiddo." his uncle said, peering around Appa, "Hey, buddy!" he said, patting the bison.

The bison turned and licked him from toes to head in one pass. Bumi laughed out loud at the expression on his uncle's face.

"Yeah, that never gets old." he said, rubbing the saliva off his face. He dropped to the ground next to him, "So, how are things with you, kid?"

"Fine." Bumi said, contentedly patting Appa's head.

"You know, that's not what I've heard."

Bumi's smile faded.

"Really, things are fine." he said, looking away from his uncle.

"Hmm..." Uncle Sokka said, leaning against the bison, "You know, your parents have this interesting ability."

_Don't I know it, _Bumi thought, mentally rolling his eyes.

"They both know how to be _kind _and _sensitive _and _understanding, _and they always know the _right _thing to say, and they've always been like that."

Bumi looked up at his uncle. What did that have to do with _anything?_

"My point is," his uncle said, as though he'd read his mind, "I've never been good at that kind of thing. I'll usually blurt out the first thing that pops into my head, whether it's the right thing or not. One thing I'm going to tell you right now, whether it's the right thing to say or not, is that neither of us are getting out of this barn until you tell me what's wrong, we fix it, and you start acting like the crazy kid we both know you like being."

Bumi opened his mouth to speak, but Uncle Sokka held up a hand to stop him.

"And if you tell me you're fine one more time, I'm bringing Toph in here."

"I can't do anything!" Bumi blurted out. Just the mental image of his intimidating, metal-coated aunt, with her sightless eyes and lie detecting feet, was enough to make him shudder.

"What do you mean, you can't do anything?" his uncle asked, "You do lots of things, and you're good at them. Your pranks are works of art, your stunts give your mom gray hair," He stopped and chuckled at that and continued, "and I hear you're a good student. You're a good friend. You make sure to include your little brother in things. You're a better big brother than I was when I was a kid."

"I mean I can't do anything _cool!_" Bumi exclaimed impatiently, "My dad is the _Avatar! _My mom is the greatest healer in the world! Mom is pretty sure Kya is a waterbending prodigy! And _Tenzin_ is Dad's one hope of his heritage living through to the next generation!"

Sokka opened his mouth to talk, but Bumi just kept going.

"I call the _Fire Lord_ 'uncle,' and his daughter's already an amazing firebender too! Aunt Toph actually _invented _metalbending! And you know what she told Mom and Dad when she came to see them last week?! _Lin _is an earthbender! She's _three_, and she can earthbend! Even the guy I was named after was a bender! And earthbending master! And then I hear all these really amazing stories about all these incredible things Mom and Dad did back in the war, and I'll think about how awesome it'll be when I can do things like that, and then I realize I _can't, _because I'm not a bender-"

"And where were your aunt Suki and I in these stories?!" his uncle finally demanded, "Watching grass grow?!"

"No, but-"

"But nothing!" Uncle Sokka snapped, "This 'I'm a non-bender! Boo hoo!' pity-party stops _right_ now! It doesn't say _anywhere _that you have to be a bender to do amazing things! I've met non-benders that make a lot of benders look like jelly-boned wimps!"

"Name two!" Bumi challenged.

Sokka opened his mouth to speak.

"Besides you and Aunt Suki." Bumi stipulated.

"Still a breeze." Sokka grinned, "How about your Aunt Mai for the first one?"

"What did she do?" Bumi asked, confused.

"What you think just anyone can be Fire Lady? She has to rule a country _and _deal with your uncle Zuko, and I know from experience, that just half of that is rough!"

Bumi opened his mouth, but Sokka held up his hand to keep him silent.

"And to impress you with all the awesome battle stuff that we guys like, Mai is probably the greatest knife-thrower on the face of the planet. On Ember Island one time, we asked her how many knives or darts she was carrying. All she was wearing when we asked her was a bikini and some leggings, and she _still _had fifty sharp objects ready to throw at us if we made her mad. Or, have you heard the story of when your uncle Zuko and I broke my dad and your aunt Suki out of the Boiling Rock?"

Bumi nodded. That was one of his favorite stories.

"Without her, we probably never would have made it out, and we'd probably be at the bottom of a boiling lake. She took out like _five _firebending guards when they they tried to stop us from escaping. Even cooler, she kicked your _mom's_ butt the first time they fought!"

_"Really!"_ Bumi gasped, astounded. Then he remembered his challenge to his uncle. He regained his composure. "That's only one."

Sokka grinned.

"Your great Gran-Gran."

"What did she do?"

"She grew up in the Northern Water Tribe, and she was going to be forced to marry a man she didn't love. Rather than let that happen, she left her family, her friends, and everything she knew and loved to come to the Southern Water Tribe. I know." he said, when he saw the look on his nephew's face, "It sounds like boring, girl-power junk, but bear with me for a second. Think about it. If she had taken the easy way, stayed in the North Pole, married this guy, had a bunch of kids, and spent her old age in a sewing circle with the friends she grew up with, _none _of us would be here. You, your brother, and sister, me, and your mom would never have been born, your dad would probably _still _be frozen in an iceberg, and the world would probably be a smoldering pile of ash by now ruled by your uncle Zuko's crazy sister."

Bumi was silent, awestruck. That was _amazing._

However, it was just two people. He'd brought up _nine _benders when he'd first started talking to Uncle Sokka.

"What's up?" Sokka asked, catching the look on his nephew's face.

"That's just two, Uncle. Two cool non-benders in a world _full_ of amazing benders!"

"I bet you _fifty _yuans that I can think of a dozen more incredible non-benders."

"_Fifty_ yuans?!" Bumi gaped. That was more money than he'd ever _seen!_

"Yep. You get fifty yuans if I can't think of a dozen great non-benders. _And, _to make it more interesting, I won't even talk about myself. I do have to talk about your aunt Suki though, because she really is incredible."

"Okay," Bumi conceded, "but if you win, even though I really don't think you will, I can't pay you fifty yuans."

"Your confidence is overwhelming, kid." his uncle said dryly, "How about if I win, you stop acting like a sad sack and go back to being your crazy self, deal?"

Bumi thought about it for a second and nodded.

"Deal." he confirmed, offering his hand. His uncle shook it firmly.

"Alright!" Uncle Sokka said, stretching, "I should warn you though that I'm going to talk _really_ fast. We'll be here all night if I talk about them all too slow or too much. You ready for this?"

"Ready." Bumi said, humoring his uncle.

Sokka took a breath.

"Your-aunt-Suki-led-and-trained-the-Kyoshi-Warriors,-some-of-the-fiercest-women-on-the-planet.-She-withstood-being-tortured-by-Azula,-and-the-most-amazing-thing-I-saw-her-do-"

_Whoa!_ Bumi thought, _I thought he was kidding!_

"was run through a prison riot, come out without a scratch, scale a completely _flat_ wall, and single-handedly kidnap the warden of the Boiling Rock in less than a minute! Your aunt Ty Lee _invented _chi-blocking and kicked _both _your parents' butts the first time they fought. June was a bounty hunter who rode a giant mole that nearly killed us! Pian Dao was the greatest swordsman in the world, and non-benders _and _benders all over the world would come and ask him to train them! Jet, I'll admit he was a bad guy, but _man_, was he a leader! By the time he was sixteen, he was the leader of a group of freedom fighters who gave the Fire Nation a _ridiculous _amount of trouble. Plus he had a wicked way with these hooky, sword things he'd always carry around. Another freedom fighter was Longshot. He didn't say much, but he was the most amazing archer I've ever seen! The Mechanist was a non-bender who designed amazing gadgets and weapons, even the subs we used to invade the Fire Nation on the Day of Black Sun! His son, Teo was a non-bender _and _in a wheelchair, but he perfected a way to fly like your dad does on his glider! My father's friend Bato left his family and everything he loved to fight in the war, he survived a vicious wound, he took me ice-dodging, one of the most dangerous rites of passage in our tribe, and he helped lead the invasion of the Fire Nation! Your grandfather Hakoda was chief of our tribe, he led the Southern Water Tribe Warriors, he helped lead the Fire Nation invasion, and he was one of the first and only people to ever escape the Boiling Rock! Your grandmother Kya gave her life to protect your mother from people who'd kill her just because she was a waterbender. Without her, your mom would be dead, Aang would still be on ice, the war would still be on- you get the idea. _My_ first girlfriend, a non-bender from the Northern Water Tribe, gave her life to resurrect the Moon Spirit after Admiral Zhao killed it, and she literally _became _the moon! See?!" he declared triumphantly, "You don't need to be a bender to do incredible things!"

Bumi mentally counted off the names his uncle had mentioned, counted them on his fingers again, just to be sure, and he was stunned. A _dozen _amazing non-benders, fourteen if you counted the first two his uncle mentioned before they made the bet. His uncle stood up and offered him a hand to pull him up.

"Pay up, kiddo. I won the bet, so you have to go out there and be the best little weirdo you can be."

"But-"

"What is it, now?!" Uncle Sokka demanded.

"Almost all of those really cool non-benders had a _thing, _something they're good at that _makes _them that awesome." Bumi explained, "Aunt Suki has fans. Aunt Mai has knives. You have Space Sword and Boomerang. The rest have gadgets, or hooky swords, or a giant mole. I don't have a thing." he finished, looking down sadly.

"Bumi, look at me." he heard his uncle say. He looked up. His uncle had some kind of weird half-smile on his face. The Watertribesman reached over his shoulder and pulled his beloved boomerang from its sheath.

"I think it's about time we found you a thing." he said, offering him the boomerang.

Bumi gasped and just stared at it.

"Well?" Sokka asked.

Tentatively, Bumi reached out and took it. Smiling, his uncle grabbed him by his other hand and pulled him up.

"Come on." he said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Let's go outside and practice with it."

GOD, that took longer than I thought, but I like it. It was sweet. :)


End file.
